Sonic Frontiers is getting a free demo on the Japanese Nintendo eShop storefront. The latest adventure from Sonic Team launched earlier this year, taking the blue hedgehog to the Starfall Islands with an ambitious new open-zone gameplay structure. With the game now out for roughly over a month, Sonic Frontiers has already sold over 2.5 million copies. This is not only a healthy start for the game, it's also becoming one of the best-selling games of the franchise. With the holidays approaching, Sega has given out fans a chance to try out the game with a free demo currently available on the Nintendo eShop.
Previously, Sega has stated that Sonic Frontiers wouldn’t be getting any free demos before the game’s launch, with the only demo being shown off at industry events like Gamescom and Tokyo Game Show. There was the likelihood that dataminers could have looked into the game’s internal files and revealed a bunch of things that Sonic Team would have liked to keep as a surprise, especially if the demo contained almost the entire game. It seems like the key word was “before launch,” evidenced by the new demo available for fans to download.
Announced on the official Sonic Japanese Twitter account, this demo for Sonic Frontiers is only available on the Japanese Nintendo eShop, with the tweet noting it is an early “Christmas Gift” for the upcoming holiday. The tweet also notes it is a great sampler for those who are hesitant or on the fence about purchasing the full game, as it gives players the chance to run around the first open-zone area for fifteen minutes, much like the demos at the aforementioned industry events.
This isn’t the first time that a demo was announced after a game’s initial launch on the eShop. Nintendo distributed a free Metroid Dread demo to celebrate Halloween last year, which also gives fans a chance to try it out for themselves before committing to a purchase. While the demo can only be downloaded if a fan has a Japanese account, the game does feature multiple language settings, including English. Any progress made in the demo will not carry over into the full game.
As of this writing, there is no word whether this demo will be coming to other platforms or if an English version of the demo will be released. Regardless, Sonic Frontiers is receiving a lot of positive feedback from fans, with Sega and Sonic Team planning to roll out a number of updates for Sonic Frontiers throughout 2023. Its director has also commented on Frontiers' positive reception, hoping that the next game will be even greater as well.
Sonic Frontiers is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
